Breathing easy
Posted: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 7:51 AM
After a one-day absence, the smog stomped in on big dragon’s feet again today. It wasn’t as bad as it had been on Monday, but it was bad enough to prompt another round of debate about whether Beijing’s now-famous inversion layer is going to ruin the Games.
May I suggest that we all get a grip, including those American cyclists who deplaned in Beijing on Tuesday wearing black masks as if they were here to rob a bank instead of compete in the Olympics.
I understand athletes being concerned about pollution. When races are won by thousandths of a second, you don’t want to reduce your lung capacity by a single molecule. But these guys should have looked out the airplane window before they landed. It was a wonderfully clear day.
Beijing’s inversion layer is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It doesn’t have an acrid odor like air I’ve encountered in the past in New York, Los Angeles and more recently in Phoenix. It also doesn’t leave you feeling congested or make you feel like you’re not getting any air, a feeling I’ve had in Houston. And the next morning, you’re not excavating black boogers, as was the case in Athens, where the air was heavy with dust during the 2004 Games.
The athletes who have been here for a while haven’t complained, either. “I haven’t had any breathing problems at all,” said Michael Phelps.
“I haven’t noticed anything,” added fellow swimmer Dara Torres.
U.S. Olympic Committee President Peter Ueberroth noted on Wednesday that Los Angeles battled smog during the 1984 Olympics that he organized. He was right about that, and I remember wondering how the women marathoners managed to run 26 miles in the heat and pollution. But manage they did.
Beyond that, the smog has been really bad on one day – Monday – since I got here last Saturday. It was clear that day, slightly hazy on Sunday, socked in on Monday, clear as a bell on Tuesday. Today started out very hazy and ended relatively clear.
The bottom line here is that I have yet to find anyone who’s had trouble breathing. I walk a couple of miles a day, and I’ve felt the heat but haven’t had trouble with the air. It’s a big story now because we’ve little else to write about, but it won’t affect the competition.
The USOC and athletes were far more eager to talk about the facilities provided by Beijing and China. They are unabashedly agog at all of it.
“This is the best facility I’ve ever competed in,” said Phelps.
“I think China’s done an awesome job,” said Torres, who said she brought her own pillow to Beijing because she wasn’t sure what she’d find in the Olympic Village. The pillow’s in a closet.
“It’s like you’re at a Marriott,” she said.
Olympic officials are diplomatic by nature. They’ll never trash the facilities at an Olympics. Instead, they’ll say things like, “We have no complaints with the facilities,” which is code for, “This place really stinks.”
There was no code when the top officials in the USOC spoke with the media on Wednesday. The chef de mission, Charles Lee, called the facilities “truly extraordinary.”
“I stand in awe to see what they’ve done,” said Ueberroth.
That’s all you hear from everyone. The Olympic Village is the best ever. The venues are the best ever. The food is to die for. The hosts are bubbling over with graciousness and eagerness to help.
It’s all because of China and Beijing, which can spend money as they wish and build facilities where they want them. If it means relocating a million people, they can do that. There are no permit processes, no environmental impact statements, no labor unions to battle.
The Chinese people seem enormously proud of all of it. And even without impact statements, the facilities are the greenest in the history of the games. The city’s gotten new roads and a brand-new and badly needed subway in the bargain. It all fits in with the concept of the group being more important than the individual, a foundation stone of life here that has stood firm for thousands of years.
No other city could pull off such a feat, Ueberroth said. He sounded envious.
